by Lisa Harris
“Besides that, the fear and the threat of violence is what keeps them from running away.” Tory toyed with the edge of her napkin. “These girls fear that the authorities will arrest them because they aren’t in the country legally. They’re impressed with the belief that there’s no escape.”
Avery shook her head. “Which allows their ‘owners’ to do with them what they please without the fear of them going to the authorities for help.”
“And makes people like the Sourns and the Chus far from being the innocent victims they claim to be,” Mitch added. “Instead of finding freedom in the US, these innocent young girls become indentured servants, forced to work for little or no money.”
Avery looked at Mitch and Carlos, who had spent the last two hours tracking down the man forensics said had signed the gift card she received with the magnolia from the flower shop. “What did you find out about Landon Rice?”
“We met with his parole officer and found out that he missed his last check-in.”
“Which means on top of everything else, we still need to track down another fugitive.” Avery nibbled on a fry and felt her stomach rumble. Maybe she was hungry after all. She turned to Mitch. “Have the Chus been brought in yet for questioning?”
Mitch nodded. “I checked on the way here. Mrs. Chu was brought in a few minutes ago, and officers just met Mr. Chu at his gate at the airport.”
“Guess that was an unwelcome surprise greeting. What about the Sourns?”
“So far—like our Mr. Rice—both of them have dropped off the grid. Nothing has come back yet on our BOLOs.”
Avery reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “Mitch, I want you to get me a search warrant for Robert Sourn’s home and business. If we can’t find them, then let’s find something that will tie them in to all of this, including the murder. Tory, keep trying to track down Mr. Rice and the Sourns. Check on phone records, banking records, as well as airports, train stations, whatever it takes. Hopefully forensics will be able to pick up something from the break-in at my house as well.”
“I’m on it.”
Mitch and Tory gathered their lunches and headed for their desks. Since it was a transportation hub, Atlanta was easy to disappear from. They needed to find these people and find them quickly.
“Carlos, I’ll sit in on the interview with you and the Chus . . .”
Avery let her voice trail off. Jackson appeared in the doorway, looking like the anchor she’d been searching for in the middle of a storm.
She nodded at Carlos, hoping to mask the relief she felt over Jackson’s arrival. “Give me a minute, okay?”
“You got it, boss.” Carlos shot her a knowing look, then left the room, leaving her and Jackson alone. So much for her trying to hide her interest in the handsome ME standing in the doorway.
If Jackson noticed the interchange between them, he didn’t show it. “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting.”
“No. It’s okay. ” She felt some of the tension in her back and shoulders melt as she stood and skirted the desk. “It’s been a long day, and it’s barely noon. I could use the distraction.”
“I only have a minute. I’m on my way to talk to the chief about another case, but I wanted to stop and check on you before I went up. How are you?”
Avery’s hand automatically reached up and touched her forehead. “I’m okay.”
“And now for the honest version?”
She smiled. “Honest. The painkillers have done their job of taking the edge off the pain, and things have moved so fast, I haven’t had time to think much about how I feel.”
Or her new feelings for the man standing in front of her. She was still waiting for the moment when she had enough time to savor the idea without any distractions.
“Just don’t forget that you’re never going to be able to take down this guy if you’re not in top form yourself.” He nodded toward her desk and the uneaten gyro and fries still sitting there. “Like eating your lunch for starters, young lady.”
He always knew how to make her smile. “Yes, Mother.”
Jackson took a step toward her. “I like your mother, but being compared to her isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
Avery laughed. “You are nothing like my mother, and while I love her, that’s a good thing.”
Because the idea of him—of the two of them together—was sounding better every day. She couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d guarded her house all night, stopped an attack on her life, kissed her in the middle of her kitchen . . . Or how he was always able to bring things into focus for her and still somehow make her laugh.
She sighed, wishing he could kiss her again right now and allow her to forget at least for a moment all the frustration and stress of the case that had piled up. When all this was over . . .
“Now that we’ve established that I’m nothing like your mother, how is your arm?”
“Just sore when I move it.”
He reached out and grasped her hand, then ran his thumb across her fingers. “And what about you? How are you coping with all that has happened?”
Avery felt the lightness of his touch as the past twenty-four hours rushed over her. Even without the physical evidence reminding her what happened, it would be a long time before she was able to forget. “I can’t say that any of this has been easy, but as soon as we catch those involved, I’ll be able to move on.”
“Honest?”
She caught the doubt in his eyes. “Honest.”
“Good, because I was hoping that when all of this is behind you, you’ll feel up to going out again. If I remember correctly, I think you owe me a date. The last two were cut short.”
She studied the hint of shadow across his face where he hadn’t shaved in the past twenty-four hours or so and caught the fatigue in his eyes. The week had been just as tough for him. “I’d like that.”
“And maybe . . . maybe we can find time for the two of us to figure out exactly where all of this between us is going.”
Avery felt her heart flutter. A quiet dinner for two, no cases, distractions, or talk about forensic evidence. The thought left her smiling. And surprised that she felt ready to take the next step. “I’d like that as well.”
“Good.”
His thumb rubbed the back of her hand again. “So what’s left today? I heard that you found Malaya, and that there’s an arrest warrant out on Mr. Sourn as the man who kidnapped her.”
Thoughts of a romantic night began to fade. “Malaya is lucky to be alive. Right now we’re starting interviews with the Chus while waiting on a warrant to search the Sourn residence and business. Hopefully we can find evidence that will tie the murders in with the trafficking of young girls and put Mr. Sourn—and whoever is running this ring—away for a very long time.”
“What happens when you’re done saving the world?”
Avery laughed. The last thing she felt like today was a superhero, but maybe her sister had been right—she didn’t have to take on the world. All she had to do was help one person at a time. Losing her heart in the meantime to Jackson Bryant wasn’t a bad way to go. “If we can bring in Sourn today, I plan on picking up takeout from the Jade Palace near my parents’ house and spending some time with Tess before crashing.”
He leaned against the desk beside her, still holding her hand. “And if things do settle down tomorrow, I’m hoping there’s a day off in sight for you?”
“I’m hoping for church with Tess and my parents, lunch somewhere so I don’t have to cook, and a long afternoon nap.”
“If it works out that you can, I could pick up you and Tess?”
“I’d like that.” Her smile widened. It might not be the perfect date for the two of them to be alone, but she’d take joining him for worship as a close tie. They both needed the spiritual renewal. “I’ll call you with an update later, but I promised my parents I’d stay at their house tonight, so Tess and I will both be there.”
“Perfect.”
“Which means you can
get a good night’s sleep too.”
“I have to admit that sleeping in my own bed is more appealing than hanging out in Mitch’s Dodge Shadow.”
She took a step closer, needing to feel his nearness, along with the assurance that everything was going to turn out okay.
“I need to go.” He looked down and caught her gaze. “Call me when you can with an update.”
“I will.”
He let go of her hand, and she watched him walk away. Long, steady stride, confidence in every step, with a down-to-earth realness that made her want to get to know everything about him. He was providing that calming balance in her life that she craved.
Fears of overcommitment still simmered near the surface, but she was slowly learning to shove them aside. She needed someone who didn’t make her life more complicated, but who could help her pick things up when they got messy.
Jackson was looking more and more like that person.
32
By the time the judge signed the search warrants, Avery had ensured that their teams had detailed instructions and were geared up to carry out the search. There were two planned raids coordinated with SWAT. Tory and Carlos rode with the team to the Sourns’ private residence, while she and Mitch joined the second team headed for the complex that housed the warehouse and the import company’s main offices. They might have video evidence that linked Sourn to the kidnapping of Malaya, but Avery needed more—a connection to the human trafficking ring they’d stumbled across and, if Sourn was their killer, answers to Tala’s murder.
She sat in the back of the van transporting their team and tried to keep her mind focused. The combination of the dull ache pulsing in the back of her head and the reality of the risks involved in executing a raid had her distracted. She’d warned Tory of the lethal combination, but sometimes, the opposing strains of responsibility were hard to ignore.
She shifted in her seat and felt a bruise on her hip she hadn’t noticed before. She let out a low sigh. This morning’s attack wasn’t the first time she’d found her life in danger. Sometimes her need to pursue justice clashed with her concern for Tess, making it hard to justify the former. They ended up being two desires that simply weren’t compatible. But counting the cost was not a foreign notion. Serving her community through the police force had become a family tradition and was how she’d learned firsthand about both sacrifice and the pain of loss.
God, you know the risks to take down men like this, and while part of me doesn’t understand why you don’t just wipe them off the face of the earth, I also know that you allow us to make our own decisions. It’s just hard to see the fallout when girls like Malaya are paying the price for someone else’s greed. Which is why I need your protection today. For my team, the SWAT guys, for the girls out there we still need to save . . . for everyone involved in this game.
“We’re going to get this guy, Avery,” Mitch said.
“I know.” She stared out the window at the oncoming traffic. “He’s already gotten away with too much.”
He’d taken these girls’ lives, taken away their hope, and left them in a wake of despair with nowhere to run. No one deserved that.
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand what makes these guys tick.” Avery pressed her fingertips together. “Power, control, sex, greed? How do they look in the mirror every morning, straighten their tie, and head off for work like nothing’s wrong?”
“That’s a good question and one I don’t have an answer for.”
“Sometimes I just wish I could find the victims before they end up nameless in some back alley.”
“Life can’t be controlled. Life can’t be bottled.”
Avery raised her brow.
“Superman versus Brainiac.”
She chuckled softly and shook her head. “You have an answer to everything, don’t you?”
“Think what you like, but there is truth there. You can only control a small fraction of what goes on around you. But every criminal we help convict puts us one step closer toward making this world a better place.”
Avery shoved away the conflicting thoughts and tugged on the bottom of her bulletproof vest as the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse. Through the tinted window, she refocused her mind and studied the scene. Outside was quiet. A few scattered cars in the parking lot, trucks pushed up to the loading docks, but no sign of workers on this side of the building. No sign of Sourn.
The van door slid open. Avery took in a slow, deep breath and checked her weapon. Ideally, she preferred waiting until after dark or early in the morning for a raid, but the risk that Sourn would destroy evidence relating to the case was too great.
She jumped out of the van ahead of Mitch, and as her team members filed into position, she mentally rehearsed the plan she’d laid out to each of them. Their initial entrance had to be both quick and precise as they relied on designated teammates to ensure the perimeter was contained, leaving no avenue of escape for anyone inside. They’d conduct their preliminary search, detain and cuff everyone, then search for evidence that would aid in Sourn’s conviction.
Avery felt the familiar rush of adrenaline spread through her as the SWAT team burst through the heavy side door of the warehouse ahead of her. The wooden frame groaned at the impact, then splintered as the metal hinges popped lose.
The moment they stepped inside, chaos erupted.
Someone shouted from across the room. Weapons pointed at her team. Gunfire exploded. A bullet smashed into the wall behind Avery before she had a chance to react. They’d landed in the midst of an ambush.
There was no time to figure out what had gone wrong. Avery took aim at one of the men and shot. He dropped his weapon and grabbed his arm. A bullet whizzed past her ear, pinging against a metal plate on the wall. She ducked behind a row of crates.
It was over as quickly as it started. Someone shouted for them to stop shooting. Three men on the other side of the warehouse were surrendering. They stepped out into the open, then froze with their hands held high.
Avery was barking an order to the team when she saw him. The gunshots had ceased, but Mitch lay on the ground in a pool of blood.
“Mitch!”
Avery was only vaguely aware of what was going on around her as seconds ticked by in slow motion. Someone called for medical backup, while the SWAT team rushed to secure the warehouse.
Silence filled the aftermath of the gun battle. She crossed the cement floor to where Mitch lay and dropped onto the ground beside him. Everything around her faded until all she could hear was his raspy breathing. If the bullet had punctured a lung . . .
Oh God, please . . . No . . . no . . . no . . . Not now. Not this way . . .
“Mitch?”
This should have been a routine raid. Take the search warrant, secure the premises, and find their evidence. No one, especially not one of their own, was supposed to have gotten hurt.
She leaned closer and started searching for the bullet hole. “Mitch. Talk to me.”
He looked up at her, his pupils dilated. “I . . .”
“Listen to me, Mitch. The bullet hit your vest. You’re just stunned. You’re going to be okay.” Why was there so much blood? If the vest had stopped the bullet, there shouldn’t be any blood. Avery fumbled to find the bullet hole. “We’ve got an ambulance coming. We’ll get you to the hospital, and they’ll patch you up.”
“Kayleigh . . .”
“Stop it, Mitch.” She found where the bullet had entered his side, pulled on the Velcro closure to loosen the vest, then pressed her hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She searched for an exit wound with her other hand. Nothing. Her mind struggled to compute what had happened. The vest hadn’t stopped the bullet, and there was too much blood. “You’re going to be fine.”
Mitch caught her gaze. “Please. Tell her how much I love her.”
“I said you’re going to be fine.”
“You’re a lousy liar, Avery. But a very good partner.”
Not if she let him die. How could she forgive herself if he died after she let him walk into an ambush? She shook her head. She wasn’t ready to give up. Because he had to be okay.
Tears burned her eyes. She blinked them away, pressing harder against the wound, her hands shaking, and started praying. “What was it that Spider-Man said to Mary Jane? You have a knack for—”
“For . . . for getting into trouble.”
“Which is why you’re going to have to tell Kayleigh that yourself. Just hang in there.”
“Tell her, Avery . . . tell her that I’m so sorry.”
Sirens wailed in the distance. All they needed was a few more minutes and there was a chance he could make it.
Someone from the SWAT team knelt down beside her and handed her a pressure bandage. “The ambulance is almost here. We’ve secured the scene, and your team has begun their initial search.”
Avery nodded her thanks, then turned back to Mitch, but something in the background pulled her away for a split second. Her mind struggled to focus. Mason Taylor stood against the back wall, hands cuffed behind him. The man who’d betrayed her family. The man responsible for her brother’s death.
She couldn’t breathe. She shook her head and turned back to Mitch. Mason shouldn’t be here, but for the moment it didn’t matter. Taking down Sourn, Mason’s presence, and everything else swirling around her seemed insignificant. None of it mattered compared to losing Mitch.
33
Avery stormed down the hall of the precinct after spending fifteen minutes changing her clothes and trying to get rid of all the blood covering her hands. Soap and water might work to erase the stains on her skin, but she’d never be able to get rid of the images of Mitch lying on the ground.
And that hadn’t been all she’d seen. Avery felt the knot anchored in her stomach dig deeper. Why had the man responsible for her brother’s murder been at that warehouse?